Membrane fractions enriched in sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) were isolated from the cardiac ventricles of 10-month-old, stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) which had been maintained for nine months on one of four experimental diets: low protein (LP) (19% protein), standard (STD) (24% protein), high protein (HP) (32% protein), or high methionine (1.9% methionine) (MET). ATPase activities, as well as ATP-dependent Ca2+ binding and Ca2+-uptake activities, of the isolated SR were determined to examine the influence of diet on myocardial Ca2+-pump activity. SR from all four groups exhibited similar Mg2+-ATPase activity. However, the (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase activity was significantly elevated in SR from rats on the MET diet while the activity in the other groups showed no significant differences. After 15 sec of incubation, Ca2+- uptake (presence of oxalate) in SR from the LP group was significantly less than Ca2+-uptake in SR from each of the three other diet groups. Ca2+ binding (absence of oxalate) in the SR from the LP group was also significantly less than that from each of the three other diet groups. Kinetic analysis of SR Ca2+-uptake over 60 sec revealed that the Bmax of the MET group was significantly higher than Bmax of the STD diet group. In addition, the Bmax of the LP group was significantly lower than Bmax of the HP and MET groups. There was no significant difference in affinity of the SR Ca2+-uptake system among the four diet groups. These results indicate that modification of dietary protein can influence myocardial SR Ca2+-pump function.